Never Left
by Lewis Moore
Summary: After a loss in the group, Tails must understand his position and come to terms with it.
1. Chapter 1

_Just to let you all know, this story is not canon to any of my other Sonic fanfics._

Chapter One: A Hero Faded

Sonic felt the heat of battle on his face. He looked up at the red-hot sky as he faced his most dangerous rival, the nefarious and dastardly Doctor "Eggman" Robotnik. Everything Robotnik had done had led to this. Robotnik had launched a cybernetic attack on the entire Earth and Sonic knew he could not let Robotnik win. The seven Chaos Emeralds were floating beside him as he looked up at the giant mech robot that was destroying the city of Westopolis; the pilot of that mech was Doctor Robotnik. A tracking device was attached to Sonic's back so Tails, Knuckles, and Amy (who were flying in the Tornado trying to fend off against flying badniks) can know where he is. Sonic also had a communicator on his throat so he can communicate with Tails. The emeralds began to spin at lightning speed around him, so much so that you could barely see them clearly. Sonic's blood stained dark blue fur was starting to stand up. He began to levitate off the ground. His emerald green eyes dissolved into ruby red. He was above the ground. He then closed his eyes and a blinding bright yellow light took place, as did a loud sonic boom afterwards. The dark blue fur was now bright blinding yellow. He had transformed into Super Sonic. He pressed the communicator on his throat, "Tails, can you see me now? " Sonic waited for a response. He repeated, "Tails, can you see me?" Tails responded, "Sorry Sonic. Yes I can see you. Remember to focus on defeating Robotnik. I'll take care of the other badniks." Sonic clicked his communicator, "You got it." Sonic flew up to the cockpit, which was also the mech's head. He saw Robotnik controlling the mech. Robotnik spoke through his intercom that projected out of the cockpit, "You will never win, Sonic. Today, you die." He went to grab Sonic with the extended mech arms, but Sonic swiftly dodged them. Sonic arched his hand back and quickly whipped it forward, which fired a heat beam at Robotnik's cockpit. The beam made a small crack the size of a blade of grass. Robotnik let out maniacal laughter, and then grabbed Sonic with the mech's hands. Sonic tried to break out of the mech's grip but it was no use. There was one more thing for Sonic to do. He managed his best to choke out the words "Chaos Blast." BOOM! The right arm of the mech disintegrated and the explosion left the torso of the mech in bad shape. However, Robotnik was still inside the cockpit. Robotnik had no face of defeat; in fact he still seemed optimistic in his evil scheme. Sonic grabbed the mech and began to fly up all the way into the sky. Tails quickly pressed his communicator, "Sonic. What are you doing, its too cold up there. You're communicator will-" Tail's voice shorted out as Sonic was flying up in to the air with the entire mech body in his arms. Robotnik had a terrified look on his face, "No, this can't be happening." It started to get very cold, so cold that jumping in a fire wouldn't be enough to cool down, but Sonic didn't care. He kept looking up as he rocketed through the Earth's atmosphere with the mech. The two were floating in space. Sonic flew above the floating mech and then rocketed down on it, causing it to hurtle down the Earth. Sonic flew down back to Earth with it. Sonic knew that if Robotnik's mech crashed into Westopolis it would destroy the entire city. He grabbed the mech and tossed it into the ocean, with Robotnik still inside. Sonic's power was fading out; his bright yellow fur was fading back to blue. His red eyes turned back to green. His overall energy was nonexistent. He then lost all of his power as he fell unconscious when he was falling. Knuckles was sitting in the back seat of the plane, "Tails, do you know where he is?" Tails looked back, "His tracking device got destroyed when he took Robotnik into space."

"Look!" Amy Rose pointed into the sky where Sonic was falling. Tails pulled the hyper drive stick shift and jettisoned over to where Sonic was hurtling and tried to catch him in the plane but sadly failed. "No!" Tails screamed. Sonic had hit the ground with great force and couldn't move. Tails landed the plane where Sonic was. He ran toward him, "Sonic!" Sonic slowly opened his eyes, "Robotnik… is dead." Knuckles nodded, "You did it." Sonic shook his head, "No, Tails is the hero." Tails recoiled, "Me? How am I the hero." Sonic smiled, "You predicted that this global cyber attack was going to happen. And it did, but now with Robotnik dead. His badniks no longer operate. It was you that was prepared for this." Tails then made a sudden realization, "Wait, why are you saying this. Are you claiming that I have to be the leader now?" Sonic nodded. Tails was confused, "But why? I thought we agreed I would take your place if you died." Sonic said nothing. Tails then realized, "No! Sonic, you can't die." Amy started to cry, Knuckles turned away. Sonic spoke, "I have no will to live. I can't move. Its your job Tails." Sonic began to close his eyes when he spoke his final words; "There is still hope in the world." Sonic then laid his head down. He was dead. Tails began to cry, "No, no, no. Please no."

_To Be Continued._


	2. Chapter 2: New Life

Chapter Two: New Life

It had been two days since the final battle of the Robotnik cyber attack. Sonic the Hedgehog had lost his life during the battle, leaving Miles "Tails Prower to be the new leader of the group. Tails has yet to come to terms with this new job he had been given. Knuckles the Echidna had to go to Angel Island to defend the Master Emerald. But if he left, it would no longer be a group. Tails decided to take Amy to migrate back to his old workshop in Mystic Ruins, which was near Angel Island so that way they will be near Knuckles in case another problem occurs.

"No, you're not doing that!" Knuckles spatted at Tails, "I need to be alone to defend the Master Emerald." Tails tried to convince him, "If we remain apart, it won't be a group anymore. When you guarded the emerald, we were still a group because Sonic was still with us. Now there is only three of us, you have to let us stay!" Knuckles fumed, "No! No way in hell!" Tails was out of ideas, but then he came upon a realization, "Knuckles, Sonic said I am the leader now. Let us come to Mystic Ruins, that is an order!" Knuckles let out a scoff, and walked away, "A little kid telling me what to do! What a joke!" Tails sighed, "I am not the naïve little kid that I was years ago. I am not the kid that can't go anywhere without being saved anymore. I am sure as hell not the kid that would let Sonic down, as I used to be. I have grown up. Please Knuckles. We need you. Knuckles let out a groan, "Jeez. I never saw Sonic as my boss, or a leader. But he was a hero. He saved the world. I am not going to take orders from you, but I understand where you're coming from. You can migrate to your lab, but do not let it interfere with my guarding duties. Go ahead and go to your old workshop but do not set one foot on Angel Island unless it is an emergency. Deal?" Knuckles put his hand out. Tails smiled and shook Knuckles' hand, "Deal."

"Amy, go ahead and get inside." Tails was ready to leave to Mystic Ruins to his old workshop, he looked back at Knuckles, "Are you sure you don't want to ride with us to the island?" Knuckles shook his head, "No. I can get there myself like I always do. Good luck, Tails." Tails sighed, "My name isn't Tails anymore." Tails jumped into his plane, "Its Miles Prower. Tails fired up the engine and took off into the sky. Knuckles watched the plane fly away. He stared at it, with a smile on his face, "Nope, I'm still calling him Tails."

Elsewhere, a man stood in a strange laboratory situated on a small island in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. He had black hair and a scrawny body. With his fingers rested on a large keyboard, he typed the letters, "TORNADO MARK II". A picture of Tails' plane was displayed. He typed in, "LOCATION". A map of the world was displayed showing a red dot moving across the middle of the map. The red dot was Tails' plane. The man gave a smile, "I will complete what you started, Doctor Ivo Robotnik."


	3. Chapter 3: Doctor Yazi

Chapter Three: Doctor Yazi

The man stood in his lab watching the red dot (Tails' plane) on the map. He clicked on the dot with his cursor and typed in the command, "BADNIK FIGHTERS". He hit enter and several blue dots (flying badniks) came in from the left of the map and were chasing the red dot.

Meanwhile, Tails and Amy are in the Tornado Plane over the ocean and are being attacked by flying badniks. Tails tried to fend off against them, "How the hell do these badnik's work? Robotnik is dead, why are they still operating?" Tails pressed the flare deploy button. Flares were dispensed from the plane, destroying most of the badniks. However, the rest continued to fly after him. They were far away from Mystic Ruins and wouldn't get there in a while. Tails pulled the hyper drive shift, and the plane flew across the water of the ocean, creating a wave that destroyed most of the badniks.

"Damn it!" The man in the laboratory slammed his hand on the desk. He had noticed that the red dot (Tails' plane) had rocketed faster than the badniks, and that the badniks were destroyed. He stood up and left the room, and entered a large room full of robotic weapons and soldiers. This was Robotnik's old base. He walked up to one of the robots, it looked exactly like one of Robotnik old bots named Metal Sonic. He tapped the robot on the head. Its non-operating eyes flashed red. Its dark black pupils looked at the man, "I am Cyber Sonic." The man leaned toward him, "Hello, Cyber. My name is Doctor Yazi." Cyber Sonic's eyes flickered, "Where is Doctor Robotnik?" Doctor Yazi smiled, "I am afraid he is dead. I run this place now." Cyber Sonic looked around, "How can the badniks operate with Robotnik dead?" Yazi laughed, "I reprogrammed them. I am the master of this place now. And I need you for something important. Follow me." Cyber Sonic followed Yazi into the lab where he was detecting Tails' plane. Yazi pointed at the monitor at the red dot, "That is the plane of Miles "Tails" Prower. He is en route to Mystic Ruins for an unknown reason. All I know is that your master, Doctor Robotnik, had launched a global badnik attack a few days ago. Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Amy Rose went to stop it. Sonic won the battle but ended up dying from losing his inner energy. Doctor Robotnik was killed by Sonic who threw his mech into the ocean. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy are still alive and I do not want that to last. I want you to go to Mystic Ruins to find the three of them, and kill them." Cyber Sonic looked at Yazi, "Yes Doctor Yazi.

A few hours after destroying the fleet of badniks that came after them, Tails and Amy were still in the Tornado II, flying over to Mystic Ruins. Tails was confused why they were attacked, "If they still work, then does that mean Robotnik is alive?" Tails began to think, _If so, then how? How can he survive something like that? There is no way he lived through that._ Tails didn't know what was happening. He continued to fly towards the destination. As soon as the island of Mystic Ruins came into view, he nudged Amy awake, "Amy! We're here." She looked at the large island. They had made it to Mystic Ruins.


	4. Chapter 4: Cyber Madness

Chapter Four: Cyber Madness

Tails had landed his plane on Mystic Ruins. Amy stepped out of the plane, "Finally, we're here." Tails was still worried about the badniks that had attacked him. He tried to think of how they would still work with Robotnik dead. He tried to ignore it. He entered his workshop with Amy. He stepped in the main lab and spoke to Amy, "Down the hall to the left is your bedroom." Amy nodded, giving her thanks, "Where are you sleeping?" Tails sat up on his counter, wiping the dust off, "Here. I'll be fine." Amy left to the bedroom. Tails turned the table over, revealing a bed. He laid down in it and fell asleep.

Elsewhere, Doctor Yazi stood on the helicopter landing skid at the Robotnik base. Cyber Sonic was standing by him. Yazi looked down at Cyber, "Do you remember the plans?" Cyber Sonic's eyes flickered, sort of like nodding, "Yes, Doctor Yazi. First, I land on Mystic Ruins. Second, I destroy Miles Prower's workshop. If not dead, I will kill Miles Prower and his friends. After that, I return to you to report my success." Doctor Yazi nodded appreciably, "Good." Cyber looked up and said something badniks were not programmed to say, "What if I fail?" Yazi hesitated, "If all seems lost, come back to me and I will think of a new plan." Cyber understood. The rockets below his feet ignited, and Cyber flew away.

A while after that, Tails woke up from sleeping through the night. He stepped out to see the morning sun. Suddenly, he heard the high pitched sound of something falling through the air. He looked toward the sky to see a small black object really far up in the sky. As it got closer, Tails noticed it was metallic blue. It was shaped like Sonic. Tails' eyes widened, _Metal Sonic_, he thought. He quickly ran toward his workshop. As he was running toward it he heard the sound of something being launched. Rockets. The rockets struck his workshop, nearly destroying it. The metallic blue figure made it to the ground. His hand turned into a small minigun, "I am Cyber Sonic. Metal Sonic is no more! Soon, you will be no more as well!" Tails ran into the ruins of the workshop, dodging the bullets that Cyber was shooting at him. He heard the sound of Amy calling for help. He met up with her at the back of the almost destroyed workshop. They ran out of the workshop, or what was left of it. Cyber flew up in the air and caught sight of Tails and Amy, "Show mercy!" Cyber's hand changed into a strange pipe. Fire spurted out of it like a flame thrower. Tails and Amy narrowly dodged the fire. Tails and Amy got into the plane and took off. Cyber rocketed after them, chasing them through the air.

Meanwhile, on Angel Island, Knuckles faintly heard the sound of a plane flying. He looked down from the island to see if there were any planes around. Sure enough, Tails' plane rocketed up in the air above Angel Island, Cyber was still flying behind the Tornado. Knuckles bitterly chuckled, "I knew it wouldn't be long when danger comes back." The plane flew down below Angel Island with Cyber flying behind. Knuckles jumped off the island to glide toward the Tornado. Wind blew on his face on the way down. He landed onto the wing, right next to Tails, "What the hell is happening?" Tails gradually increased the speed to get away from Cyber, "No clue! He came out of nowhere!" Knuckles looked back at Cyber, "Is it Metal Sonic?" Tails shook his head, "Cyber Sonic, or so he says." Cyber began to fire bullets at the Tornado. Tails tried to evade them. He pulled a lever in the plane console, "Deploying flares!" Flares were deployed from the rear. They slowed Cyber down, but he did not give up. Cyber's hand then turned into a rocket launcher. He fired one rock at the Tornado. An explosion bursted from the side. Amy screamed, "We're hit!" The plane was going down at a fast rate. Tails grabbed on to both Amy and Knuckles, "Abandon plane." He jumped out and began floating with his tails. He saw the plane fall down to the ground in its mangled state. Once it hit the ground, it fell apart. The three of them stayed in the sky. Cyber had passed them, thinking he had killed them. Tails, Amy, and Knuckles made their way safely to the ground.

Hours later, Knuckles decided to hang out at the still intact section of the workshop. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy sat at a table. Tails was even more confused, "Those badniks that attacked us at the ocean, and Cyber Sonic attacking us a few hours ago. What is going on? Something is happening and I do not like it! Someone wants us dead." Knuckles chewed on charred remains of fruit that burned in the explosion of the workshop, "Who wants us dead?" Tails stood up and turned around, "Whoever he is, he must be the new leader of Robotnik Laboratories since Doctor Robotnik is dead." Tails pulled out a small piece of metal, "I found this when we got back on the ground after Cyber Sonic attacked us. It may be a small piece of him that broke off when I hit him with the flares. If I use my computer to analyze it, I can track the coordinates of Robotnik base, find the new leader of Robotnik Laboratories and Cyber Sonic, and end this." A lot had happened today, Tails just went to bed to think about what he would do the next day.

"Well, did you kill them?" Doctor Yazi had asked Cyber when he came back. Cyber spoke, "Not instantly. I destroyed their plane but they jumped out before the plane hit the ground. But there is no doubt that the fall will kill them." Doctor Yazi turned around and looked at the dark starry sky, "I hope you're right. If not, we'll go through phase 3." Cyber was intrigued, "Phase 3?" Doctor Yazi gave a sinister smile, "Send a full scale army of our cybernetics after them. That should take them out." Doctor Yazi walked away, "Dismissed." Cyber's eyes flickered, "Thank you, Doctor Yazi."


	5. Chapter 5: Detection

Chapter Five: Detection

Doctor Yazi sat in his computer chair. He typed the command, "WILLIAM ADAMS". Pictures of him when he was younger appeared, like early twenties. In the pictures, he was wearing a lab coat. He scrolled through the pictures and one of them caught his eye immediately. It was a picture of him with his arm around a girl. One tear slowly came down Yazi's left eye when he saw this picture, and then a tear came down the right one. Cyber Sonic looked at the pictures, "Who is William Adams?." Yazi immediately clicked off the screen and put the monitor to sleep. He stood up, "Why are you here?" Cyber paused for a second, "An unidentified object is headed toward the base. It appears to be a boat." Yazi stood up, "How close?" Cyber answered, "2 miles. It is unknown if this base is their intended destination or if they're just passing by." Yazi looked down, and then back up, "Once they get close enough, confront them. If they seek to attack. Kill them. If not, let them go."

"Espio! I told you we were lost! We were supposed to make a turn miles away from here!" Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, and Charmy Bee of the Team Chaotix Detective Agency were sailing on a boat to get to a new destination to set up a new agency. The waves were very heavy and water was splashing into the boat. Espio kept his hands on the steering wheel of the boat, "I'm telling you, Vector. We are going the right way. You fell asleep a while ago. We already went the other way." Vector grumbled, "I hope you're right. If not, this would be your fault. Or Charmy's fault." Charmy cried out, "Why me?" Vector ignored him and checked around the boat to make sure everything was operational. He looked over the side of the boat to see something wrong. There was a jagged hole the size of a soccer ball on the hull. He was alarmed, "We got a puncture in the hull!" Espio got off the wheel, "Charmy, you take over the boat!" Charmy grabbed onto the steering wheel, "Roger that!" Espio stood next to Vector to look at the hole. Espio spatted, "Shit! The hole is too big. We're going to sink!" The boat came up to a strange base standing up out of the water. At the dock was Cyber Sonic. It was raining hard so Vector could not tell it was a robot and thought it was Sonic the Hedgehog, "Hey, Sonic!" Cyber's eyes glowed bright red, Vector realized it was a robot. Espio looked up at him, "Hey, who- or whatever you are, we need to leave our boat because we're sinking. Can we go on your base and maybe we can fix the boat?" Cyber was silent for ten seconds, then spoke, "Come up the dock. My master will raise your boat up to here." Espio sighed in relief, "Thank you."

"Where are you heading?" Doctor Yazi had seated Vector, Charmy, and Espio in the dining room of his base. Yazi had asked them where they were headed in their boat.

"Well, we're a detective agency called Team Chaotix. We were audited by the IRS and we lost our base." Vector answered. Espio finished his answer, "We are heading toward a small island to make a new base." Yazi nodded, "Fascinating. What do you specialize in?"

"I specialize in ninjutsu and deduction." Espio said.

"I'm good at interrogation and intimidation." Vector said.

"I'm skilled ." Charmy said.

Yazi nodded, "I see. It will take awhile for me to fix your boat. For the time being, I may need you to take out an enemy of mine. I'll pay you." Cyber Sonic interrupted Yazi, "Doctor Yazi, what about Phase 3? Weren't you going to send an army of badniks at them?"

"Not anymore, Team Chaotix is all I need to defeat them," Yazi said.

Espio was intrigued by Yazi's proposal, "Who do you want us to defeat?"


End file.
